Claudius and His Empire Trivia Quiz

Answer: Augustus

Claudius took pains to model his method of governing after Augustus. He was courteous to the Senate, even though he was not popular with many of the members of that body. He generally made no inquiry into private conscience, just as Augustus did and rarely punished those who spoke ill of him. Tiberius was dour and reclusive and Julius Caesar ruled as a dictator. Sulla belongs to the last century of the Republic and he violated all precedent by marching an army into the city of Rome.

Answer: Three

Claudius completed the Aqua Claudia, which Caligula had begun construction on, but never finished. He restored the Aqua Virgo, which had fallen into disrepair. He ordered the construction of the Anio Novus, and it was completed from beginning to end during his reign.

Answer: Their Praetorian Camp

The soldiers immediately placed Claudius in a sedan chair and rushed him to their Praetorian Camp. They wanted to guarantee that he would be absolutely safe and secure. He remained there that night and the next day while the Senate bickered among themselves.

They sent a delegation to Claudius, wanting to know his intentions. Later, the Senate discovered that they were helpless in the face of the formidable forces Claudius had at his command.

Answer: All of these

The Senate deliberated on all of these issues, and there a few of its members who even made personal bids for power, i.e., emperor of Rome. The longer they discussed the matter, the more their numbers dwindled as they realized the powerful position which Claudius occupied.

Answer: One

Claudius only actually ordered the execution of one assassin, Cassius Chaerea. He judged that Chaerea's motives were more personal than political. Chaerea murdered Caesonia, Caligula's wife, and his little daughter, Drusilla, as well as Caligula, and he probably intended to kill all the members of the imperial family.

Another guardsman, Cornelius Sabinus, was Chaerea's henchman in the plot, but Claudius pardoned him. Nevertheless, a few weeks later, Sabinus took his own life.

Answer: That an owl would signal his death

Ancient people, particularly the Romans, believed in omens, and birds played a role in this. A fellow prisoner told Herod Agrippa that that he would be king, but that his impending death would be signaled by an owl. Herod Agrippa was in Caesarea, preparing to deliver a speech to a large crowd in a theater. An owl swooped down and perched on a rope above Herod. Almost immediately, he was seized by a violent pain in his abdomen, and a few days later, he died.

Answer: Cuspius Fadus

Cuspius Fadus was dispatched to Palestine to govern Herod's lands until Herod Agrippa II came of age. At the time, Agrippa II, the son of Herod Agrippa, was living in Claudius' palace, receiving his education in Rome. Vetellius had earlier served as Governor of Syria, Lateranus Plautius was removed from the Senate because of his liasison with Messaline, and Publius Petronius had served as Governor of Syria during the reign of Caligula.

Answer: He set a ceiling fee for the fees received by lawyers

Claudius sent a maximum fee that could be charge for legal services. Contrary to having someone represent him, Claudius took a very active part in legal proceedings, judging cases personally himself. He passed laws dealing with the stastus of slaves, but permitting them to testify in court was not one of them.

He put in regular appearances in the courts and did not insist on Senate conducted trials.

Answer: Relations with women, gluttony, drinking, gambling

Claudius spent years in a semi-reclusive life, being denied key government posts. He loved to gamble and eat and drink heavily. As emperor, he frequently ate and drank his way into stupor at dinner and had to carried to bed. Contrary to the mores of the time, he was completely heterosexual; he only had relations with women. He even wrote a short work on dicing.

Answer: An inscription found in Nazareth, forbidding grave tampering

Claudius abominated grave tampering and violation of sepulture. He may have known of what Romans called tales of Christ rising from the dead, and he published an ordinance which has been found in Nazareth, ordering capital punishment for anyone desecrating graves. Apostle Paul was not in Rome during the reign of Claudius, and there is no evidence that Claudius either visited Jerusalem or read a Gospel account.

At that point, probably none of the Gospel account had been formulated or written.